Community

I am an active participant in the free and open source software community. Some things I’ve done for the community include:

1. Clients/projects I’ve acted for in a professional capacity include:

Projects: PovRay (wrote distribution licence and, in particular, wording permitting inclusion in open source distributions), Fujistu Powered PostgreSQL (advised on Fujitsu participation),  LAMS Project, GPL v 3 Drafting (advice on aspects of Australian law),  release of NetEpi (I am told this was the first open source release by Australian Goverment), Wedgetail

Clients: Australian Digital Alliance, NSW Department of Commerce (drafted changes to ProcureIT terms for Open Source Tender and other advice on open source), NEHTA, Linux Australia, SAGE-AU, Open Source Victoria, Health OpenWare Foundation, OK Labs,

1. founding member, director of Open Source Industry Australia Limited. I am not paid for my work as a director of OSIA. I estimate this involves several weeks of time each a year. This time has been spent on things like: reviewing and commenting on the AUSFTA – I have appeared before a House of Representatives Committee to give evidence on the impacts of the copyright provisions on the open source industry; making a submission to the Attorney General’s department on the amendments to the Copyright Act in late 2006, appearing before a senate committee to speak on these issues (also in 2006); drafting a submission to Standards Australia on its OOXML vote and attending at a half day conference held by Standards Australia when considering its Australia’s vote on the issue. I have also run a survey of Australian Federal Parties’ attitudes to open source in the 2004 and 2007 elections (results available from http://www.osia.net.au) .
2. OSIA submission to Federal Government Innovation Review (2008)
3. OSIA submission to Federal Government IT review (2008)
4. pro bono advice to Computer Bank NSW (up to… 2005?)
5. paper against software patents (1993);
6. various papers on groklaw, my website (www.opensourcelaw.biz), miscellaneous other sites;
7. a Copyright and Patents FAQ (partly funded by OSV – get a load of the URL):
   http://www.osv.org.au/downloader.cgi?%D1%86%8B%DD%7E6%E6%C4%D6%14%05%A2%29%7D%F3%A8%84%E3%86%9F%D3%2CW%253%B4O:71:uploads%2Ffile%2FOSV_copyright_and_patent_faq.pdf
8. presented various papers from time to time.